zclDragon/dsh-side-chat

@zhuchenglong/dsh-side-chat

Codex-style /side side conversations for the DeepSeek Harness Web GUI.

While your main task runs, open a temporary fork of the current chat in a floating panel: it inherits the main thread's completed context, never interrupts the running task, and never pollutes the main thread's model context. Perfect for "ask while working" — "why did you implement it this way?", "what does this error mean?", "what was the signature again?"

Features

• /side command — open a side conversation beside the current session (inherits context up to the last completed turn/end).
• Floating panel — a「💬 侧聊」toggle in the bottom-right corner; create, switch, and close side chats from the panel.
• Live Q&A — side chats post through the same message channel as the main conversation (session.prompt), stream in real time, and can be stopped.
• Markdown rendering — replies render with the same MarkdownText the main conversation uses (headings, code blocks, tables, math), with follow-the-latest auto-scroll.
• Concurrent, non-blocking — the side agent runs in the same process alongside the main agent; your main task keeps going.
• Close = removed — closing a side chat disposes its agent and archives the session, so it disappears from the panel and the sidebar.
• Parent-aware — the panel header shows the parent conversation and side count; chips stay #N, hovering shows the side chat's own first question.
• Clean main thread — /side leaves only a command card in the main log, never model context.

Install

dsh plugin --profile web add @zhuchenglong/dsh-side-chat

Or install from GitHub:

dsh plugin --profile web add github:zclDragon/dsh-side-chat#main

Restart dsh web (or refresh the browser) to pick it up.

Usage

1. Open the GUI in your browser (default http://127.0.0.1:3080).
2. Click「💬 侧聊」in the bottom-right corner, or type /side.
3. Click「＋ 新建」to open a side chat, then ask your question.

How it works

• Host half (src/index.ts): registers the /side-chat routes (open/list/close) and the /side command. open reuses DSH's fork semantics — the seed is the parent's complete log prefix from the last turn/end up to (not including) the next turn/start — then creates a child agent with ctx.agents.create, inheriting the parent's agent-preset composition and model selection. The panel header title is derived from the side chat's own first user message (bounded by seedLength, so inherited parent messages are never used).
• Client half (src/client/): binds side sessions through ctx.sessions, opens their event window (session.open()), subscribes to the live conversation snapshot, and renders a compact markdown transcript; messages post via session.prompt().
• Registry: an in-process Map<sideSessionId, parentSessionId> records grouping; when a parent session is disposed, every descendant side chat is disposed too (orphan cleanup).

Development

pnpm install
pnpm typecheck     # tsc --noEmit
pnpm test          # vitest (host + client)
pnpm build         # tsc declarations + tsdown artifacts (lib/index.js + lib/client.js)
pnpm pack          # publish tarball

Known limitations (next iterations)

• The side-chat grouping registry is in-process; a process restart loses the grouping (the sessions themselves persist). A durable registry via ctx.storageDomain is planned.
• The panel list refreshes on a 3s poll (a side chat opened via /side appears within ~3s).
• A side chat inherits context only up to the last completed turn/end (same as a DSH fork); an in-flight turn cannot be inherited.